A federal civil rights lawsuit was filed Monday morning against the city of Rochester & and police officials alleging decades of racist police violence against demonstrators and residents.
Local activist group Free the People ROC, The National Lawyers Guild Rochester chapter, and 10 individuals have filed a lawsuit against the City of Rochester, Rochester Police Department leadership, and other departments for terror attacks committed against Black people.
The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, was filed by prominent civil-rights groups on behalf of Rochester residents who reported injuries and unjust arrests last year. The suit seeks financial damages, an injunction against racially biased policing and the appointment of an independent monitor to fix the city’s policing practices.
Defendants listed in the lawsuit include:
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren
Former Rochester Police Chief La’Ron Singletary
Interim Rochester Police Chief Cynthia Herriott-Sullivan
Henry Favor, RPD Commander of the Special Operations Division
Ralph Montinarelli, RPD Lieutenant with the Tactical Unit
Samuel Lucyshyn, RPD Lieutenant
Randy Potuck, RPD Sgt. assigned to the Mobile Field Force
RPD officers William Baker, Alexander Elmore, Domenic Borrelli, Matthew Drake, Dakota Vanbrederode, Ethan Paszko, and John Clinkhammer.
The Rochester Police Department
City of Rochester
County of Monroe
Monroe County Executive Adam Bello
Monroe County Sheriff Todd Baxter
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office
Stephen Dellasala, New York State Trooper
New York State Police
“This state violence is business as usual for police who have, for decades, violated the human rights of our communities.” said Emily Good, legal observer for National Legal Guild Rochester chapter .
City of Rochester Communication Director Justin Roj released a statement Monday afternoon in response to the lawsuit:
“Mayor Warren welcomes a review by the United States Department of Justice.”
This of course directly contradicts the report commissioned by Rochester’s city council stating that Mayor Lovely Warren lied at a September press conference regarding details she knew of surrounding the murder of Daniel Prude, a Black man lynched by the Rochester Executioners. The lawsuit accuses the city and the department of creating and encouraging a “culture of impunity for violent, racist policing.”
“To be blunt, what I’ve witnessed has been nothing short of abject terror, carnage and unwarranted brutalization,” Rochester photojournalist Reynaldo DeGuzman, who attended the protests, said at a press conference announcing the lawsuit.
B1Daily will be providing the latest coverage surrounding the Rochester Executioners lawsuit
-Kerry Hill, B1Daily
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